Computer-implemented system and method for dynamic travel coordination

ABSTRACT

A computer-implemented system and method for dynamic travel coordination is provided. A common destination is designated for a group of travelers for arrival at a common time. A mode of travel and a set of travel criteria are designated for each traveler. The travel criteria are determined for at least one of the travelers by receiving travel criteria for the at least one traveler from another traveler and receiving from the at least one traveler modifications to the received travel criteria. An initial route to the common destination at the common arrival time is created for each of the travelers based on the travel mode and travel criteria for that traveler. The initial route of one or more of the travelers is revised based on at least one of that traveler&#39;s designated travel criteria, a progress of one or more of the travelers, and travel conditions of the initial route.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This patent application is a continuation of U.S. patent application,Ser. No. 14/954,781, filed Nov. 30, 2015, pending, which is acontinuation of U.S. Pat. No. 9,200,911, issued Dec. 1, 2015, thedisclosures of which are incorporated by reference.

FIELD

This application relates in general to route planning and, inparticular, to a computer-implemented system and method for dynamictravel coordination.

BACKGROUND

Coordinating a gathering of multiple people with multiple transportationoptions for travel to a specific place at a specific time can be oftremendous value. In the Battle of Waterloo, Napoleon desperately waitedfor the arrival of his reinforcements when instead his opponent Blücherarrived with a Prussian army and swept him away from the field of battleand thereby the stage of history. Today, businesses lose large amountsof productive hours due to the intractable and nettlesome late arrivalof employees at meetings or work. Similarly, in a social context,disparate arrival of participants of a social event to a destination,such as a restaurant, can jeopardize the success of the event.

Coordinating simultaneous arrival of multiple people at a specific placeis complicated due to the large number of factors involved. For example,each person may have his or her own preference on mode oftransportation, including walking, jogging, biking, driving, car-pool,bus, subway, light rail, train, ferry, and taxi. The preference can beinfluenced by cost, speed, convenience, and reliability of the transportand further shaped by a person's habit and value system. Travelers to aspecific location may also have social preferences such as aninclination or aversion to the company of a fellow traveler. A traveler,for instance, may prefer to meet another traveler en route to the event,since joining together in travel tends to decrease the travel cost,increase comfort, and provide opportunity to socialize. Another factorcontributing to the complexity is the random but frequent traffic delaysthat are almost unavoidable for a large group of travelers takingvarious modes of transportation. As the number of travelers to aspecific location grows, the challenge becomes daunting to devise atravel plan for on-time arrival while accommodating each traveler'slocation, travel preferences, and accounting for unexpected trafficdelays.

Given the importance of the coordinated arrival, significant efforts andresources have been invested in facilitating the accomplishment of thisgoal; however, the result has generally not been satisfactory. Forexample, Google Map™ allows a user to input a starting point and adestination, and returns route suggestions and estimated time of travel.A user may select a mode of transportation including car, bus, biking,and walking. A mobile version may track the location of a traveler andsend an alert of a traffic jam through a display. However, Google Maponly provides advice to individual users and does not perform functionsrequired to coordinate arrivals of multiple people. Mapquest® and othersimilar applications provide comparable functions to those of GoogleMap™, and do not remedy the shortcomings of Google Map™.

U.S. Patent Application No. 20120041672, entitled “Automated SocialRouting” to Scott Curtis et al. (“Curtis”), discloses systems andmethods for providing automated social routing. After a user provides astarting point and a stopping point, multiple suggestions of travelroutes are made on account of other users' usage or rating of theroutes. Thus, Curtis focuses on locating a route by consensus and doesnot address joining fellow travelers and does not solve the challenge ofcoordinating simultaneous arrival of multiple people from disparatelocations to a designated location at a designated time.

U.S. Patent Application No. 20080293430, entitled “Method, Apparatus andComputer Program Product for a Social Route Planner” to Jan Blom et al.(“Blom”), discloses a system and method of obtaining social informationassociated with a particular area and a traveler, associating the socialinformation with a candidate route through the particular area, andmaking a recommendation on a route. Blom focuses on recommending a routeto a solo traveler based on information gathered about the traveler anddoes not coordinate a group to reach a desired destination.

Therefore, a need remains for a way to dynamically coordinatesimultaneous arrival of multiple people from disparate locations to aspecific place at a specific time, while taking into account eachperson's preferences.

SUMMARY

Social routing can be provided by a social router system thatcoordinates a group of travelers from disparate locations to reach adestination at a specified time, by dynamically recommending a travelingroute to each of the travelers that comports with that traveler'straveling criteria. To recommend the route, the social router generatesan initial route for each of the travelers and, if apropos, revises theinitial route to join two or more travelers into one route en route tothe destination based on the traveling criteria of the two or moretravelers. The recommended traveling route is dynamic since the socialrouter continuously revises the traveling route based on changes of thetraveling criteria, travel progress and conditions along the route.

One embodiment provides a computer-implemented system and method fordynamic travel coordination. A common destination is designated for agroup of travelers for arrival at a common time. A mode of travel and aset of travel criteria are designated for each traveler. The travelcriteria are determined for at least one of the travelers by receivingtravel criteria for the at least one traveler from another traveler andreceiving from the at least one traveler modifications to the receivedtravel criteria. An initial route to the common destination at thecommon arrival time is created for each of the travelers based on thetravel mode and travel criteria for that traveler. The initial route ofone or more of the travelers is revised based on at least one of thattraveler's designated travel criteria, a progress of one or more of thetravelers, and travel conditions of the initial route.

Companies stand to reduce wasted hours and increase work efficiency ifthey can provide an optimum travel route to their employees, track theiremployees' travel progresses, and offer an alternative route instantlywhen the original route is disrupted. In social gatherings, planningwill be made easier when a host can present guests with a list oftransportation options, routes, and departure times. Guests will saveboth time related to figuring out a route and anxiety associated with atardy arrival.

Still other embodiments will become readily apparent to those skilled inthe art from the following detailed description, wherein are describedembodiments by way of illustrating the best mode contemplated. As willbe realized, other and different embodiments are possible and theembodiments' several details are capable of modifications in variousobvious respects, all without departing from their spirit and the scope.Accordingly, the drawings and detailed description are to be regarded asillustrative in nature and not as restrictive.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram showing a system for dynamicallycoordinating multiple travelers to arrive at a specific place on aspecific time, according to one embodiment.

FIGS. 2, 3, and 4 are diagrams showing, by ways of example, thecoordination of multiple travelers on their travel routes using a socialrouter.

FIG. 5 is flow diagram showing a social router-implemented method forcoordinating simultaneous arrival of multiple parties from disparatelocations to a specific place at a specified time.

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram showing a method for generating an initialroute of travel, in accordance with one embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Route planning can be provided through a social routing system usable bya group of travelers who want to coordinate their travels to a specificlocation to arrive at the same time. The system can include socialrouter software installed in a server and client software installed inuser devices. FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram showing, by way ofexample, a social routing system 10, including a server 11 in accordancewith one embodiment, upon which a social router 12 is installed on theserver. The server 11 may comprise one or more central processing units(CPUs); a high-speed, short-term data storage means; an input-output orbus controller; a lower-speed, permanent or semi-permanent data storagemeans; and a operating system software or operating environment. Thesocial router is connected to a database 13 that stores a collection oftravel criteria 14 and geographic information 15. The social router 12is connected, through a network 16, to devices including a smartphone17, a laptop 18, a dumbphone 19, a desktop 21, or a tablet 22. Thedumbphone 19 can be a basic cell phone that lacks the advancedfunctionality characteristic of a smartphone. The server 11, database13, smartphone 17, laptop 18, dumbphone 19, desktop 21, and tablet 22are all interconnected over the network 16, which could be a local areanetwork, enterprise network, or wide area network, including theInternet and cellular network, or some combination thereof. Otherdevices are possible. The client software 20, or App 20, can beinstalled in a device including a smart phone 17, a laptop 18, adumbphone 19, a desktop 21, or a tablet 22. Other configurations arepossible.

The travel criteria 14 includes many factors. The travel criteriaincludes a traveler's preference or aversion to a mode oftransportation, which includes walking, jogging, biking, driving,car-pool, bus, subway, light rail, train, ferry, and taxi. For example,a traveler prefers driving to walking; as result this traveler's travelcriteria will be marked by driving over walking. A travel criterion canbe modified. Continuing with the aforementioned example of the travelerwho prefers driving to walking: if the traveler loses his or her drivingprivilege for a period of time, the travel criteria is modified toreflect the loss of the driving option during the period of time whenthe loss of the driving privilege is in force.

The travel criteria may include a traveler's tolerance for cost. Forexample, a traveler may set up a limit that the traveler is willing topay for a trip. The travel criteria may include a speed of travel. Forexample, a traveler may specify a minimum or maximum of speed of travelwithin which the traveler will consider adopting the mode oftransportation. The travel criteria may include a travel time. Forexample, a traveler may specify a preference for a shorter travel timeover longer travel time. The travel criteria may specify a travel timehe or she would like to spend on a particular travel. The travelcriteria may include convenience, which includes the ease to use of amode of transportation. For example, a traveler may specify the maximumdistance the traveler is willing to walk before getting onto a bus. Along walk would be considered an inconvenience. In another example, atraveler may specify a maximum time she or he is willing to wait for abus to arrive, since a long wait would be considered an inconvenience.

The travel criteria may include reliability of a mode of transportation.Reliability may include a rate of on-time arrival, a probability foraccident, a frequency of unexpected delay, or a real or perceivedmeasure for safety. The travel criteria may include a traveler's habit.For example, a traveler may prefer, out of habit, to use a subway lineover a bus line, despite the bus line covering the same route as thesubway line. The travel criteria also include traveler's value system.For example, a traveler may place high value on environmentalpreservation; thus the traveler would prefer walking to motoring when adestination is within a walking distance, and would prefer car-pool overdriving when a destination is beyond the walking distance. Other travelconditions are possible.

In one embodiment, a traveler may input his or her travel criteria intothe travel database 14. In another embodiment, a traveler's travelcriteria may be determined based on the travel's prior travel choices.In still another embodiment, a traveler may authorize another party toinput the traveler's travel criteria into the travel database 14. Instill another embodiment, a traveler or an authorized third party maymodify or alter the traveler's travel criteria. In still anotherembodiment, an event organizer may suggest or override a traveler'stravel criteria.

The geographic information 15 includes information that impacts a choiceof a travel route. For example, the distance between two locations isgeographic information. The geographic information also includesinformation on the traffic routes between to physical locations,including any route that connects the two locations, any mode oftransportation that covers the route, a speed that any mode oftransportation displays, and an operational schedule of that any mode oftransportation adopts. Other geographic information is possible.Geographic information is dynamic and may be updated from time to time.

The social router 12 generates recommendations of routes to thetravelers in processes that will be described infra. The recommendationsof the routes are sent to travelers via the network 16 such an internet,in one embodiment. The internetworks includes the Internet. Othersetups, such as an intranet, or a lined connection, are possible. Therecommendations of the routes are received through the App 20 installedon a device that includes a smart phone 17, a laptop 18, a dumbphone 19,a desktop 21, or a tablet 22. Other devices are possible. Therecommendation may be displayed on the devices or conveyed to a travelerthrough the device. The conveyance of the recommendation may take theform of any means that may alert or inform a traveler, including sound,motion, smell, light, and visual cues. The recommendation may be sentvia a short message. Other forms, ways and methods are possible.

The social router 12 directs a process to coordinate multiple travelersfrom disparate locations to reach a destination at a specific time.FIGS. 2, 3, and 4 are illustrative diagrams showing examples the socialrouter coordinating a social gathering as a specific place at a specifictime. Allan 32, Barbara 35, Cathy 40, and Dave 42 are meeting up fordinner in a restaurant 38 in a downtown area of a heavily populatedcity. Allan 32 enters a location of the restaurant 38 into the socialrouter 12 and invites Barbara 35, Cathy 40, and Dave 42 to join him at aspecific time. Allan 32, Barbara 35, Cathy 40, and Dave 42 set theirtravel options. Allan 32 drives a car 33 from his house 31; Barbara 35walks out of her apartment 34 to take a bus 36; Cathy 40 bikes out ofher office 39, and Dave 42 bikes out of his house 41. The social router12 detects their starting locations: Allan 32 is at his house 31,Barbara 35 is at her apartment 34, Cathy 40 is at her work 39, and Dave42 is at his house 41.

In another embodiment, the travelers may enter their locations into thesocial router to set as the starting points. The social router 12derives a route for Allan 32, Barbara 35, Cathy 40, and Dave 42 in theirrespective mode of transportation. The social router 12 furtheridentifies that Allan 32 may pick up Barbara 35 in a bus stop along herway, and give Barbara 35 a ride to the restaurant 38. The social router12 compares the stored travel criteria of Barbara 35 to Allan's route,and finds no incompatibility that prevents Barbara 35 from takingadvantage of Allan's car 33. Examples of the incompatibilities mayinclude a social aversion between Allan and Barbara and Barbara'sobjection to riding a car. The social router 12 sends recommendations toAllan 32 and Barbara 35 about their routes, departures times, and arendezvous place based in part on the locations of bus stops and aschedule of the bus. After receiving the recommendation from the socialrouter 12, Allan 32 departs on the recommended route and time, picks upBarbara 35 without a hitch, but finds themselves ensnared in a heavytraffic blockage 37 caused by an unexpected traffic accident. The socialrouter 12 advises a detour for Allan 32 and Barbara 35. Estimating theywill be 15 minutes late, the social router 12 alerts Cathy 40 and Dave42, as well as the restaurant 38. The restaurant 38 confirms that theirreservation will be held and that two seats will be available at the barfor Cathy 40 and Dave 42. As a passenger, Barbara 35 takes advantage ofadditional functions of the social router 12 to pre-order drinks forherself and Allan 32.

Cathy 40 and Dave 42 start off from different parts of the city. Thesocial router determines a possible route where Cathy 40 and Dave 42 maymeet before biking to the restaurant 38 together. Cathy 40 and Dave 42follow the social router's recommendation on their routes and departuretimes and arrive at the restaurant 38 together on time. They areinformed of the 15 minutes delay through the message sent from thesocial router 12 to their portable devices. They chatted at the bar for10 minutes before moving into their reserved table. Allan 32 and Barbara35 walk in to their table and drinks, having parked their car in anearby parking spot located by the social router 12.

After leaving the restaurant 38, the social router 12 recommends a routehome to each person (FIG. 4). Allan 32 drops Barbara 35 off on herapartment 34 before driving home 31 in his car 33. Cathy 40 chooses abus 43 after the social router 12 informs her that her bike route willlikely be visited by an inclement weather. Dave 42 bikes home 41 on hisoriginal route based on the social router's recommendation.

Once a group of travelers, a destination, and an arrival time arespecified, the social router 12 comes up with a travel route for eachtravelers according to that traveler's travel option and travelcriteria, recommends the travel route to each of the travelers,continually monitors the progress of the travel, and recommends analternative route when the original routes are not feasible or requirechange. FIG. 5 is a flow diagram showing a method for coordinatingsimultaneous arrival of multiple parties from disparate location to aspecific place at a specified time, in accordance with one embodiment. Aplurality of travelers is identified (step 51). These travelers arepersons invited to arrive at a location at a specific time. Thesetravelers may be notified through the social router 12 or other meansincluding email, phone, text, and so forth. A new traveler may be addedafter other travelers have been notified, or even after at least one ofthe other travelers have commenced on traveling. An existing travelermay be disinvited and dropped from the route calculation. A traveler mayopt out an event through the App 20, upon which, the social router maychoose to cease to include the opt-out traveler in the route calculationand recommendation. However, the social router may still notify anon-traveler person the progress of other travelers. Both a traveler anda non-traveler can use the social router to plan, coordinate, andmonitor the simultaneous arrival of multiple parties from disparatelocations.

After a plurality of travelers is identified, a destination isdesignated (step 52). In another embodiment, a destination is designatedbefore a plurality of travelers is identified. In still anotherembodiment, a destination is designated at the same time as when atleast one of a plurality of travelers is identified.

The social router 12 determines, for each traveler, an initial set oftransport options, a communication channel, a starting point, and atravel criteria (step 53). The initial set of transport option mayinclude walking, jogging, biking, driving, car-pool, bus, subway, lightrail, train, ferry, and taxi. In one embodiment, a traveler may enterinto the database 13 that traveler's transport option. In anotherembodiment, the social router may recommend an initial set of transportoptions for a traveler based on an availability of those transportoptions at a current or future location of the traveler.

A communication channel may be a device including a smart phone 17, alaptop 18, a dumbphone 19, a desktop 21, or a tablet 22. In oneembodiment, a device used as the communication channel is installed withthe App 20. In another embodiment, a device used as the communicationchannel is separate from another device in which the App 20 isinstalled.

The travel criteria has been described supra. A travel criteria for eachof the travelers may be created by that traveler, or generated by anevent organizer, or generated by another traveler and proposed to thattraveler for confirmation. The travel criteria may be modified by thattraveler. In one embodiment, a traveler enters his or her travelcriteria into the travel criteria database 14. In another embodiment,the social router replicates a travel criteria used by a traveler in aprevious travel. In still another embodiment, the social router recordsa traveler's previous travel routes and extrapolates the traveler'stravel criteria.

After determining, for each traveler, an initial set of transportoptions, a communication channel, a starting point, and a travelcriteria, the social router 12 creates an initial route for each of thetravelers (step 54) as further described infra with reference to FIG. 6.For at least one of the travelers, the social router 12 compares thetravel criteria for that traveler to the initial routes of one or moreof the remaining travelers (step 55), and revises the initial route ofthat traveler based on the comparison (step 56), in accordance with oneembodiment. In another embodiment, the social router 12 evaluates thetime cost for each possible pair of travelers to meet up en route to adestination if their travel criteria allow that pair to meet en route.If the time cost is under a certain threshold, the social router 12assigns a possible join to that pair. When a possible join is made, thejoined pair is treated as one traveler in the following round of pairingevaluation, in which the time cost for each remaining possible pair ofthe travelers meeting up en route to a destination is evaluated if theirtravel criteria allows that pair to meet en route. The routes arecontinuously revised, as these cycles of pairing evaluations continue,until an overall route for the group is devised. In still anotherembodiment, possible joins can be ranked and the overall route can alsobe ranked. The overall route is updated dynamically as the travelerstravel along their routes or alter their travel criteria.

The travel criteria includes the modes of transportation. Some types ofmodes of transportation are appropriately joinable. Examples of joinablemodes of transport includes, but not limited to, a car picks up apedestrian; a car equipped with a bicycle rack picks up a bicycle rider,a car picks up a passenger from another car or a bus; a car picks up thedriver of another car while leaving the other car in a suitable placesuch as a parking lot, a pedestrian or a bicycle rider gets on a bus, apedestrian joins another pedestrian, and a bicycle rider joins anotherbicycle rider. Some types of modes of transportation are non-joinable.Examples of non-joinable modes of transportation includes: a cargenerally cannot tow another car unless specially equipped to do so, abus cannot pick up another car, and a train cannot pick up a car, amongothers. These examples are for illustrative purpose and other examplesare possible.

The travel criteria also includes social preference or aversion. Forexample, a traveler may specify a refusal to travel with anothertraveler, as a result, the social router 12 will not pair these twotravelers during its pairing evaluation.

The routes generated from the social router 12 are notified to one ormore travelers through the communication channel (step 57). In oneembodiment, a notification may be sent through an internetworks. Inanother embodiment, a notification may be sent to a device such as asmartphone, a dumbphone, a desktop computer, a laptop computer, and atablet. Optionally, a message may be forwarded between one or moretravelers and the destination using one or more communication channelsto communicate acceptance, refusal, confirmation, invitation, reminder,suggestion, discussion, and other responses (step 58). The communicationmay be sent through the communication channel or the social router.

The social router 12 continues to monitor the progress of each of thetravelers along the routes (step 59). In one embodiment, one or more ofthe travelers is associated with a tracking device and a physicallocation of the one or more of the travelers is determined using thetracking device. In another embodiment, the tracking device is a GlobalPositioning System (GPS) device. In still another embodiment, thelocation of a traveler may be manually entered into the social router.The social router 12 provides a communication based on a travel progressof a traveler (step 60). In one embodiment, the social router 12 tracksa time elapsed since the onset of a traveler's travel and tracks adistance the traveler has covered, derives an actual time cost for thedistance traveled, compares the actual time cost with a calculated timecost used to generate the original route recommendation, and provides amessage to that traveler if the actual time cost exceeds the calculatedtime cost by a certain threshold. In another embodiment, the socialrouter 12 may provide a communication regarding a travel progress toanother traveler, a destination, or a third party.

The social router 12 revises one or more of the routes based on aprogress of a traveler along a travel route (step 62). In oneembodiment, when the time spent on a segment of the route exceeds thecalculated time cost for that segment by a threshold, the social router12 revises the travel routes. For example, a traveler drives to apark-and-ride station in order to take a bus to a destination. Thetraveler misses a turn, and takes a long detour to revert back totarget. The social router 12 tracks the progress of the traveler anddetermines the traveler will miss the bus slated in the original travelplan. The social router 12 determines that taking the next bus wouldcause one-hour delay. The social router 12 revises the travel route todriving all the way to the destination and recommends a driving routethat will allow an on-time arrival.

Optionally, the social router 12 also obtains conditions along a route(Step 61), and revises the route based on the conditions (step 62). Theconditions along a route include traffic jams, road closures, schedulechanges for a mode of transportation, weather, and other conditions thatimpact a traveler. Other conditions are possible. The social router 12revises one or more of the routes if the conditions along a travel routesubstantially impacts the travel progress as to jeopardize the on-timearrival of a traveler using that travel route (step 62). In oneembodiment, a traveler drives on a highway to a destination when anaccident-induced traffic blockage is developing a few miles down thehighway. The social router 12 detects the traffic blockage and revisesthe route to bypass the blockage. In another embodiment, a traveler on abike pedals to a destination. The social router 12 detects a rainfallalong the traveler's path and revises the route to a bus ride prior toventuring into the inclement weather. Still other operations and stepsare possible.

When a revision is made, the social router 12 notifies one or moretravelers of the revision (step 63). In one embodiment, the socialrouter 12 notifies other travelers of a revised arrival time.Optionally, the social router 12 notifies the travel destination therevised arrival time (step 64).

Further optionally, the social router 12 may offer services ancillary toan arrival at a destination (step 65). In one embodiment, a traveler mayuse the social router 12 to initiate transactions that are performed ata travel destination. In another embodiment, the social router 12 mayreceive a notice from a travel destination. In still another embodiment,the social router 12 may locate an available parking in the vicinity ofa destination for a traveler driving a vehicle, by identifying aplurality of parking spaces in a proximity to the destination, obtainingdata regarding the availability of the spaces, selecting one of theparking spaces based on the availability and the specific time, andnotifying one of the travelers regarding the selected spot. Stillfurther optionally, the social router 12 provides a return route from adestination to a starting point for at least one of the travelers to thedestination (step 66).

The social router 12 creates an initial route for each travelers,revises the initial route for each of the travelers according to atravel criteria of each of the travelers, and generates an overalltravel routes for the whole group, before notifying each of thetravelers of the recommended travel routes. FIG. 6 is a functional blockdiagram describing the process of creating an initial route. A pluralityof travelers are identified. For each of the travelers, the socialrouter 12 selects a mode of transportation (step 71). The selection canbe based on the location of the traveler, access to a mode oftransportation, or travel criteria stored in the database. The selectioncan also be based the choice made by the traveler. Based on the mode oftransportation, the social router 12 selects a route (step 72). Based onthe selected route, the social router 12 recommends the route to thetraveler (step 73). The traveler is notified of the recommended routeand may choose either to accept or decline (step 74). If the travelerrejects the recommendation, the social router 12 start the process frombeginning by selecting another mode of transportation or anothercombination of modes of transportation. If the traveler accepts therecommendation, the social router 12 selects the recommended routes asthe initial route.

While the invention has been particularly shown and described asreferenced to the embodiments thereof, those skilled in the art willunderstand that the foregoing and other changes in form and detail maybe made therein without departing from the spirit and scope.

What is claimed is:
 1. A system for dynamic travel coordination,comprising: a destination designation module to designate a commondestination for a group of travelers for arrival at a common time; acriteria designation module to designate for each traveler, a mode oftravel and a set of travel criteria; a criteria determination module todetermine the travel criteria for at least one of the travelers byreceiving travel criteria for the at least one traveler from anothertraveler and receiving from the at least one traveler modifications tothe received travel criteria; a route creation module to create for eachof the travelers in the group an initial route to the common destinationat the common arrival time based on the travel mode and travel criteriafor that traveler; and a route revision module to revise the initialroute of one or more of the travelers based on at least one of thattraveler's designated travel criteria, a progress of one or more of thetravelers, and travel conditions of the initial route.
 2. A systemaccording to claim 1, further comprising: a time revision module torevise the common arrival time based on the revised route of the one ormore travelers; and a notification module to send a notification of therevised arrival time to the other travelers in the group.
 3. A systemaccording to claim 1, further comprising: a joinder module to join twoor more of the travelers together based on the travel modes and travelcriteria of those travelers; and the route revision module to revise theinitial routes of at least one of those travelers based on the joinder.4. A system according to claim 1, further comprising: a progressdetermination module to determine the progress of one such traveler,comprising: a time cost determination module to determine a calculatedtime cost for at least one segment of the initial route for thetraveler; a time tracker to track a time spent by the traveler to travelthat segment; and a threshold module to revise the initial travel routeof the traveler when the time spent exceeds the calculated time by apredetermined threshold.
 5. A system according to claim 1, furthercomprising: a route transmission module to provide the initial route toeach traveler; a feedback module to receive from one or more of thetravelers a rejection of the initial route provided; and the routecreation module to determine a further initial route for that traveler.6. A system according to claim 1, further comprising: a time tracker totrack a time elapsed since traveling commencement of one such traveler;a distance tracker to track a distance traveled by the traveler; a timecost determination module to derive an actual time cost for the distancetraveled; a time comparison module to compare the actual time cost witha calculated time cost based on the initial route for the traveler, anda notification module to provide a notification to one of the traveler,another traveler, and the common destination when the actual time costexceeds the calculated time cost.
 7. A system according to claim 1,further comprising at least one of: a removal module to remove one ofthe travelers from the group of travelers; and an addition module to adda further traveler to the group of travelers.
 8. A system according toclaim 1, wherein each of the travelers in the group commences travel atdifferent origins.
 9. A system according to claim 1, further comprising:a travel mode receipt module to receive a second mode of travel for oneof the travelers; and the route creation module to determine the initialroute for that traveler based on the mode of transportation and thesecond mode of transportation.
 10. A system according to claim 1,further comprising: a delivery module to provide one or more of thetravelers in the group with one or more modes of travel based on anavailability of those travel modes at an originating location of thattraveler.
 11. A method for dynamic travel coordination, comprising:designating a common destination for a group of travelers for arrival ata common time; designating for each traveler, a mode of travel and a setof travel criteria; determining the travel criteria for at least one ofthe travelers, comprising: receiving travel criteria for the at leastone traveler from another traveler; and receiving from the at least onetraveler modifications to the received travel criteria; creating foreach of the travelers in the group an initial route to the commondestination at the common arrival time based on the travel mode andtravel criteria for that traveler; and revising the initial route of oneor more of the travelers based on at least one of that traveler'sdesignated travel criteria, a progress of one or more of the travelers,and travel conditions of the initial route.
 12. A method according toclaim 11, further comprising: revising the common arrival time based onthe revised route of the one or more travelers; and sending anotification of the revised arrival time to the other travelers in thegroup.
 13. A method according to claim 11, further comprising: joiningtwo or more of the travelers together based on the travel modes andtravel criteria of those travelers; and revising the initial routes ofat least one of those travelers based on the joinder.
 14. A methodaccording to claim 11, further comprising: determining the progress ofone such traveler, comprising: determining a calculated time cost for atleast one segment of the initial route for the traveler; tracking a timespent by the traveler to travel that segment; and revising the initialtravel route of the traveler when the time spent exceeds the calculatedtime by a predetermined threshold.
 15. A method according to claim 11,further comprising: providing the initial route to each traveler;receiving from one or more of the travelers a rejection of the initialroute provided; and determining a further initial route for thattraveler.
 16. A method according to claim 11, further comprising:tracking a time elapsed since traveling commencement of one suchtraveler; tracking a distance traveled by the traveler; deriving anactual time cost for the distance traveled; comparing the actual timecost with a calculated time cost based on the initial route for thetraveler, and providing a notification to one of the traveler, anothertraveler, and the common destination when the actual time cost exceedsthe calculated time cost.
 17. A method according to claim 11, furthercomprising at least one of: removing one of the travelers from the groupof travelers; and adding a further traveler to the group of travelers.18. A method according to claim 11, wherein each of the travelers in thegroup commences travel at different origins.
 19. A method according toclaim 11, further comprising: receiving a second mode of transportationfor one of the travelers; and determining the initial route for thattraveler based on the mode of transportation and the second mode oftransportation.
 20. A method according to claim 11, further comprising:providing one or more of the travelers in the group with one or moremodes of travel based on an availability of those travel modes at anoriginating location of that traveler.